Island of Felidhoo - Vaavu Atoll - Republic of Maldives

By: Mohamed Sanih

Felidhoo Island

Felidhoo Island is the capital of Vaavu Atoll in the Maldives is made up of 19 beautiful islands and has the longest unbroken reef in the Maldives. The atoll is the smallest in the country and is located about 40 miles away from the capital city of Male. The boot-shaped atoll is 60 minutes by speedboat from Male and 5 hours by Dhoni, but the best way of experiencing the Felidhoo atoll is to go by liveaboard charters.

The beautiful and scenic environment of Felidhoo atoll makes it one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Maldives. One of the reasons for this is because of the breathtaking diving sites in Vaavu. Felidhoo has a long history with tourism as the atoll has been welcoming tourists since 1975. It is a beehive of tourist activity all year round and the perfect place to be if you want to see mantras and sharks in their natural habitat. The atoll is open for diving all year round, but January to May are the best time for perfect dives.

Felidhoo is sparsely populated and has only about 500 inhabitants The primary occupation of the people is fishing, but they also engage in boat building. The neighboring island of Keyodhoo is a favorite anchorage for safari boats taking divers and snorkelers out for the best diving experience of their lives. The atoll is the most undeveloped in the Maldives, making its pristine waters and beautiful islands the ideal holiday paradise for every level of scuba diving and island experience.

Vaavu has some of the best diving sites in the world. One of the most popular diving sites, rated as one of the top five dive sites in the world is Vaavu atoll's Fotteyo Kandu. The Fotteyo Kandu has a narrow channel and small caves, swim-throughs and large overhangs that make it a diver's paradise There are so many pictures to take in the unbelievably rich aquatic environment brimming with marine species such as the barracuda, white tip reef shark, and titan triggerfish.

The best snorkeling experience is right in the island of Felidhoo, and you can spot different types of marine life. Miaru Kandu and the Dhiggiri Corner are reefs full of marine life. These sites are the perfect snorkeling sites if you want to see fish such as the giant tuna, gray reef sharks, eagle rays and many other vibrant aquatic species. The Vaavu island of Alimathaa also presents an unforgettable night diving experience. Night dives at the Alimathaa resort provide an opportunity to see the resident nurse sharks, Tahitian stingrays, and black-blotched stingrays that come for the free meal offered by the resort. You can also encounter the whale shark on the eastern side of the atoll at certain times of the year.

Miyar Kandu or the Big Shark Channel also offers tourists a fantastic diving experience with its beautiful scenery and abundance of marine species such as large schools of the grey reef sharks, white tip reef sharks, Napoleon wrasse, mantas, and many other colorful reef fish.

Most tourists that visit the reefs can’t get enough of the atoll on one visit, and so they come back over and over again. Some guesthouses and resorts cater to every need of the tourists. The people are very friendly and are hospitable. The vast array of dive sites makes Vaavu a must-visit for the adventurous diver. The atoll is easy enough for the beginner diver to navigate and sophisticated enough to give the advanced diver the satisfaction of conquering the depths that could be as deep as 40 meters in some places.

Whether its Fotteyo Kandu with its warm current and deep channels, Devana Kandu, Dhekunu Kandu, or the Bodu Miyaru Kandu, there are no dull moments in Vaavu atoll. The vast array of marine life is befuddling, and you would be rendered speechless by the vastness of the riches of the sea and the beauty of its amazing species. If you want to experience marine life at its most sublime, a visit to Felidhoo atoll in the Maldives is your best shot at this lifetime event!